Fort Hateno
Fort Hateno doesn’t seem to be much of a fort. It, much like the rest of Hyrule is in a state of extreme disrepair. The walls are crumbling, scaffolding splintered, and it’s basically abandoned. I say basically because there is another person here, near a campfire. Hopping off Fabio, I greet my new friend.Garill, as he goes by, has decided to set up camp here. It seems he has a very intense love of history, and he tells me all about the fort.There was a great hero who defended the fort when Ganon attacked, who I am guessing is me. He doesn’t seem to think it possible for one person to have destroyed all the broken guardians littering the field. Buddy, I can’t even handle the ones that can’t move, I have no idea how I could have destroyed all of those.
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| Pretty cute. The donkey ain't bad either. |
There’s also a merchant here named Agus with his donkey. He’s got a meat-and-vegetable trade going, growing veggies in Hateno Village, selling them at Dueling Peak Stable, then using that money to buy meat (maybe from Mezer?) and return home with it. He seems to really like his unnamed donkey as well. I do too. Despite his talk about veggies and meat, though, he only has Bird Eggs, Fresh Milk, and Goat Butter for sale.
I explore the fort’s walls… truth be told I'm not even sure this can be called a fort, It's just a wall and a gate. I can see where wooden scaffolding was put up to support the crumbling stone. Other spiked beams replace parts of the wall outright. But, not much else in the way of reinforcements or buildings on the either side. How did Link stop all those guardians? I do find a bombable wall hiding not one, but two chests. One contains an Opal and the other an Emblazoned Shield.
As I examine the wall, something above the gate catches my eye: a pinwheel. I don’t know if I noticed before but they seem to glow faintly in the dark. I guess some might be a little easier to hunt for at night. I scale the wall to the top of the gate, the pinwheel located on the northern side. I pull out my bow, but I don’t see any balloons in the air. I have to scan around a while before I find my target. It looks like a pair of large nuts or acorns? I can’t make them out too well because they are moving very fast. They’re shooting up from beneath the trees, fairly close to the forest’s roof. It takes me a few tries to get the timing down - it is really unforgiving - but I eventually nail both of them and earn my Korok Seed.
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| Koroks: Always finding new ways to piss you off. |
As I gather up my honey, I found something else in the forest: a cabin! I enter the cabin and find it...empty. Huh. Does Garill know there is a seemingly empty house right here? Looking around, there’s a bed I can sleep in should I need to, and a book. Titled An Ancient Text, it contains only a short poem, or more like, a riddle: “When a dark light resides in the cursed statue’s eyes, pierce its gaze to purge the seal from the shrine.”
Did somebody say shrine?
Before I have a chance to contemplate what that might me, I find I am no longer. I guess this house wasn’t actually abandoned. It being in such good condition probably should have been a clue. His name is Calip, and he doesn’t seem to mind at all that I’ve been rummaging around his house. He’s a doctor, a very important one (he thinks), and he has devoted himself to studying the ancient shrines all over Hyrule. He hasn’t even told his family about his research. He also insists that I call him doctor.
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| Where'd you get your degree from exactly, "doctopr?" |
As both of my dialog options have me calling him doctor, I assume Link does so. As soon as I do, his entire demeanor changes, becoming warmer and more friendly. He’s been studying this text, a lot it would seem, but still hasn’t been able to solve it. He repeats it back to me. Oh! Quest time!
The Cursed Statue
Thanks Calip! Though, I’m still at a loss for what to do next. I obviously need to find a statue, and I probably need to shoot it in its eyes with an arrow. But where is the statue? Calip has no more information, and I can’t understand how a supposed scientist spends his nights reading a SINGLE SENTENCE over and over. Someone’s lost their marbles. In any event, it’s nighttime, so any shrine hunting can wait until morning. I hop into Calip’s bed and sleep until morning.Morning comes and I say my goodbyes and thank you’s to Calip. I step outside, ready to get the day started. I need to find the statue the riddle talked about. I didn’t remember seeing it in the forest but decide to give it a quick once over just in case. As I do so, I see Calip’s door open, and Calip himself exit. He must be scheduled to go out in the mornings. Maybe he knows where the statue is! Or can at least point me in the right direction. I hop on Fabio and follow him at a trot.
We only get about halfway there before it starts raining. This causes Calip to immediately turn around and run back to his house. Sigh. I turn Fabio around and follow him. He has an intense fear of lightning since he wear metal glasses, apparently. We’ll try again tomorrow. I hop in bed and let Link sleep the rest of the day, and the rain, away.
I wait for Calip to leave the house first the following morning, again following him from atop Fabio. No rain today, so we walk along the Fir River, unaccosted by any monsters. Though, I can see plenty of them across the river from us. There is an exceptionally large cavern, with a bokoblin camp of a decent side within. I can’t make out all the details, but the cavern seems like it goes fairly deep. Something I will definitely want to explore and clear out. Eventually, the path we are on forks, and Calip heads to the left.
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| What brings you here, big boy? |
Robred Dropoff
Wow is this place creepy. It’s a small box canyon, surrounded by steep mountains and cliffs on all sides except the way we came in. And the entire thing is filled with statues. Just dozens and dozens of small statues littering the ground. Calip has already busied himself running around the ruins, conducting his “research.” So, I think I found where the statue is. Now to figure out which one.“When a dark light resides in the cursed statue’s eyes” means I need to be looking for a statue whose eyes are glowing. But none of these statues seem to have glowing eyes, so the “when” makes me think it probably only happens at a certain time of day. Nightfall, more than likely, because why would anything cursed happen during the day? So, Doc, looks like we got some time to kill.
I slowly explore the canyon as the clock ticks by. I find a set of statues along the wall with offering bowls, one filled with an apple, so I fill the other to match and reveal a Korok. Free seed. None of the other statues are as generous. I also find a Hearty Radish, which looks like a particularly powerful item to cook with, increasing my maximum hearts. Cool.
There’s nothing more to do here on the ground. Calip has nothing else interesting to say. Siiiggghhhh. Waiting is boring. I could probably just make a campfire but I’d rather wait and see what happens. So, let’s find something else to do. Like blowing up those Ore Deposits I see near the tops of the canyon walls.
Climbing up isn’t too difficult. I’ve figured out how to spot areas where I can stop climbing for a moment so Link can gain back stamina. Remembering the notes about mining, I skip the Remote Bombs and instead use the Iron Sledgehammer. Works like a charm. Except for the ores that roll down the mountain side before I can grab them. I have to make the climb a couple of times after chasing a few pricey stones back down to the ground.
That goes by pretty quickly though and I am once again left with nothing to do. So, I climb up! I don't find much at the top. A small field. And then...three boulders? I approach cautiously, but there's no ledge with bokoblins below for me to crush. just a kind of...valley? Some kind of path. I follow it down to...a hole. OH! A boulder shaped hole. I head back up to the top since I know what to do now.
I push one boulder, the one closest tot he edge, down the chute. It's pretty far so I'm expecting to have to try a couple of times, but I manage to make a hole in one. I can only just see it go in before the Korok pops up suddenly to give me my Korok Seed.
Night finally falls. Before it even gets dark, ‘lil Calip returns to his cabin. Seriously dude? I can’t really get too mad at him though...I’m left alone in what feels like a haunted graveyard. Complete with skeletons bursting from the ground to try and kill me. Once I dispose of them I am once again alone with Fabio.
Then, around 9pm, something finally happens. I don’t notice it at first, but as I am swinging my camera around, I see that one of the statues’ eyes are glowing purple. If it wasn’t obvious enough that this is the statue I’m looking for, you would do well to remember that in Zelda purple = cursed or evil. Time to shoot this thing in the face!
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| ...I didn't do it? |
Trial of Passage
~Kam Urog Shrine~
I see a really big circle, and a really long ramp. I can also make out a chest on a ledge. Running down the ramp, I find an entrance to the circle, which it turns out is hollow inside, and moving. Inside are all sorts of ledges and platforms and hazards. A giant spiked ball and two smaller ones roll along the floor as the floor/ceiling continuously rotates.I need to go up, obviously. Hmmm. I see a “wall” coming my way, which would eventually become a floor once the chamber’s rotation moved it enough. I position myself in front of it and watch as Link eventually switches from standing on the floor to standing on the wall. I also notice large gears, which I remember from the Stasis Trial on the plateau, so I pull out the rune. The gears seem to be responsible for rotating the chamber, so once I can safely walk, I jump onto the center gear.
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| ...I should probably be more cautious... |
I carefully get back up to the gear, avoiding the traps. I figure out I need to get back on the staircase, just on the opposite side. So, I need to get on it and then very carefully walk around it as it rotates until I can get to the top. I almost mess up an meet some spike induced pain, but recover by grabbing the ledge. Phew. After that it is just a simple matter of walking up the stairs and over to Kam Urog and my Spirit Orb.
Now to go let Calip know how terrible he is at his job.
Heart Containers: 5
Shrines Completed: 9
Koroks Found: 27
Fort: Unfortunate
Calip: Definitely a doctor of something
Dozens of Tiny Statues: Going to murder me in my sleep.v
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